In-Class Essay

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Hope

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune--without the words,

And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;

And sore must be the storm

That could abash the little bird

That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,

And on the strangest sea;

Yet, never, in extremity,

It asked a crumb of me.

TPCASTT

Title: Hope

Paraphrase: The poem is about a bird, that perches on a tree with the most positive outlook. Nothing can bring it down, but storm.  It remains loyal and independent.

Connotation: Hope is the bird that perches on the tree.

Attitude: Positive and uplifting, until the switch with the storm.

Shift: storm

Title(revisited): bird is symbolism of hope

Theme: Hope gives strength and perseverance through the toughest situations. Even when you don't think it will be there, it is.

Richard Cory

Whenever Richard Cory went down town,

We people on the pavement looked at him:

He was a gentleman from sole to crown,

Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,

And he was always human when he talked;

But still he fluttered pulses when he said,

'Good-morning,' and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich - yes, richer than a king -

And admirably schooled in every grace:

In fine, we thought that he was everything

To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,

And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;

And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,

Went home and put a bullet through his head. 

Edwin Arlington Robinson

TPCASTT

Title: Richard Cory

Paraphrase:Richard Cory was a rich man and role model among the people. In the shift of the poem he killed himself with a bullet to his head.

Connotation: "glittered when he walked" shows how much admiration there was for him among people. "waited for the light" shows that the people just wanted more happiness in their lives and wanted people to be like the old Richard Cory.

Shift: "Went home and put a bullet through his head." Everyone admired Richard Cory, but in the end he kills himself.

Theme: Sometimes by separating someone from the rest of society, we make them feel alone.

Seventh Reading

For Poetry Boot Camp, Conor, Brady, Chanel, Ashley and I are analyzing poems and Dr. Seuss to write to in the next few days :)

The Picture of Dorian Gray: Summary Presentation

Macbeth Act 3 Notes

Act Three, Scene One

Banquo suspects Macbeth but gains comfort from the second part of the Witches' prediction — that his own children will be kings. Having announced his intention to go riding with Fleance, Banquo is persuaded by the Macbeths to return later that evening to their new palace at Forres for a special feast. However, Macbeth realizes that the Witches' prophecy regarding Banquo represents a threat to his own position. Unable to endure the thought of Banquo's descendants claiming his position, Macbeth summons two hired murderers and confirms with them prior arrangements for the killing of Banquo and Fleance.

Act Three, Scene Two

This short scene allows the audience once more into the private thoughts of the murderous couple, while holding the action momentarily in suspense. As the hired killers make their way toward Banquo, Macbeth and his wife meet secretly. His wife attempts to soothe his troubled mind but ironically feels the same doubts herself. Killing the king has provided them with many more difficulties than they first envisioned. To the astonishment of his wife, Macbeth reveals his plan to murder Banquo.

Act Three, Scene Three

The hired murderers meet as arranged. On hearing approaching horses, a signal is given, and Banquo and his son Fleance are attacked. The murderers' lantern is accidentally extinguished, and the job is left half-done: Although Banquo is killed, Fleance escapes.

Act Three, Scene Four

At Forres, Macbeth and his wife welcome the thanes of Scotland to the banquet. Immediately prior to the feast, one of the murderers appears at a side door and reveals to Macbeth the truth about the mission: their success in the killing of Banquo and their failure to murder Fleance. Macbeth recomposes himself and returns to the table. As he raises a toast to his absent friend, he imagines he sees the ghost of Banquo. As with the ethereal dagger, the ghost of Banquo appears to come and go, propelling Macbeth into alternating fits of courage and despair. Lady Macbeth invites the thanes to depart and, once alone, tries one last time to soothe her husband. But Macbeth's paranoid mind is already on to the next murder, that of Macduff. To ascertain his future with greater certainty, he makes clear his intention to visit the Weird Sisters once more.

Act Three, Scene Five

Hecate, the classical goddess of the lower world who represents the spirit of ancient witchcraft, calls the weird sisters to her to complain that her own part in Macbeth's downfall has been overlooked and that she now wishes personally to make his downfall complete. The scene is unnecessary to understanding the play and was probably not written by Shakespeare.

Act Three, Scene Six

Meeting with a rebel lord, Lennox reveals his doubts concerning Macbeth. His argument is that those who might be immediately suspected of murdering their kinsmen are less likely to have done so than Macbeth, who had killed the guards of Duncan's chamber so hastily. Although Lennox is prepared to accept Macbeth's actions, he cannot help feeling deeply suspicious of him. The other lord reveals to Lennox that Macduff has fled from Scotland to join forces with Malcolm in England. Moreover, they have requested help from England's King Edward the Confessor. Both Lennox and the other lord pray that God's vengeance may swiftly fall on the tyrannical Macbeth and that Scotland may return to peace once more.

Macbeth Act 2 Notes

Act 2, Scene 2:

After killing Duncan, Macbeth enters his private chambers where Lady Macbeth is anxiously awaiting him.  The shrieks of owls and the cries of crickets, both evil omens, pierce the air as Macbeth narrates to her the gruesome details of the murder.  He tells his wife that Donalbain cried "Murder!" and that Malcolm laughed in his sleep while Macbeth killed Duncan, but they both said their prayers again and went back to sleep.  Macbeth also tells his wife that he was unable to bless himself when he "had most need of blessing." (Act 2, Scene 2, Line 31) He thinks that he heard a voice saying, "Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep." (Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 34-5) From this point on in the play, neither Macbeth nor his wife are able to have a good night's rest as they are plagued by the memories of their ghastly crime.
Suddenly, Lady Macbeth notices that her husband's hands are covered in blood and that he is still clutching the telltale dagger.  She orders him to wash up and hide all incriminating evidence.  Macbeth, however, is incapable of doing anything because he is in a state of shock, so Lady Macbeth is forced to take over.  She smears blood over the faces of Duncan's servants so that they will seem guilty of the crime.  When she returns, she promptly washes her hands and orders Macbeth to be calm.  The couple hears a loud knocking at the south entry and they fearfully retire to their chambers.

Act 2, Scene 3: 

A drunken porter stumbles through the hallways to answer the knocking at the gate.  By comparing himself to a devil-porter and the castle to the residence of Beelzebub (the devil), he implies that Inverness is an evil and sinister place.  Macduff and Lennox enter the castle and ask for Macbeth.  They ask to see the king, as Duncan had requested that he be awoken at a timely hour.  Macduff goes to the king's room to wake him up.  In the meantime, Lennox explains to Macbeth how there were earthquakes and storms raging the whole night.  In Elizabethan times, people believed that Nature mirrored human events; thus in this case, Nature has reflected the horrible murder of King Duncan.  Macduff reenters the room pale and shocked-he wakes up the whole castle to report the news that King Duncan has been murdered.
Lady Macbeth enters the room, feigning the countenance of one newly awoken.  She pretends to be horrified by the news that the king has been murdered in her own house and faints.  Malcolm and Donalbain are informed of the tragic news.  Instead of openly grieving for their father, they escape respectively to England and Ireland.  The heirs feel that the court thinks them to be the main suspects of the crime.  In addition, they risk their own lives by staying in Inverness, as they could be the murderer's next targets.  Thus, the royal heirs quickly flee Scotland.  Macbeth asks the rest of the court to reassemble in the hall to discuss this strange turn of events.